Laroche at La Chapelle
The perfect antidote to Autumnal, recessionary London. By Kate
London is awash with relentless Autumn rain and it feels colder than it really ought to be; the hunched, soggy commuters somehow appear more miserable than is proper so soon after summer.
There are always miracles though, to warm the heart. Turn off Bishopsgate and right there at 35 Spital Square, step through a portal into a world away from the dank. From a purely aesthetic, visual point of view, La Chapelle restaurant is one of my current London favourites. The 19th century Convent School features a main room that rises majestically to a roof girded with wooden beams, directly above some exposed brickwork. Huge windows line the high walls; right at the top. The overall effect retains a sense of the ecclesiastical while being stylish, contemporary and even warm and welcoming – an incredibly difficult combination to pull off. Perhaps it works here because it is just such a beautiful space.
I was ushered to the private dining area which is a balcony overlooking the restaurant; tantalizingly close to the huge chandeliers. I am sure that if I clambered onto the glass fence and took a leap I could just about catch hold of one of them.
I don't know why I would, but it is somehow quite a cheering thought to think that perhaps, just perhaps, I could.
I am here to taste the wines of Michel Laroche, legendary Chablis producer. This is not for Green & Blue as we remain utterly devoted to our lovely Athenias Beru.
I am however on the hunt for a really good Grand Cru Chablis for the Grove and happily, I think I may have found it.
The very charming Mon Laroche is a man with pure Chardonnay in his veins. He decided at age 16 that he very much wanted to go into the family business and subsequently made it his life’s work. With 100 hectares the winery is one of the largest producers in Chablis but provides a very cheering example of one that manages to do things on a larger scale while never losing sight of the pursuit of quality. They have been farming sustainably for years now and decided in 2009 to apply for full organic certification. This will be granted in 2012.
Perhaps the greatest legacy though will be the fact that they were one of the first recognized and established producers of fine wine in France to make the switch to screw cap closures for all their wines, even the Grand Crus.
It remains a hugely contentious issue but I am completely with Mon Laroche on this. While our understanding of what happens to wine under the screw cap closure is in its infancy, and in the short and medium term it may not suit all styles, the fact is that there is no excuse to use anything else for whites which are all about crisp, clean elegance.
Vanya Cullen’s recent comments on this topic are especially relevant: the use of cork is hugely detrimental to the environment, given the enormous waste of all the resources that go into making a bottle of wine that may be ultimately undrinkable. With that proportion being at least 10%, how can any environmentalist argue that cork is an intelligent use of resources?
At the tasting in the elegant hall we sample most of the Laroche range; all wines which have a box fresh, scented lemon bite – which is just the way Michel Laroche likes it. Several times he comments on the importance of acidity and how he always wants this emphasized – in a perfectly balanced incarnation, of course. Their use of oak is, in the main, incredibly judicious and the one example which has a bit more is by far my least favourite of the evening.
After the basic 2008 Chablis St Martin, we move onto the following:-
2008 Chablis Premier Cru Les Vaudevey
Often slightly overly aggressive in youth, this is just starting to soften a little. Very steely and citrusy though with the palate broadening out towards something slightly richer at the back and on the finish. Youthful as it clearly still is, there is none the less perfect integration between the fruit and merest dab of oak (15%, of which only 2% is new).
2007 Chablis Grand Cru les Blanchots
Deliciously complex with fresh chunks of lemon, hints of lemon oil, lots of smoky minerality and freshly chopped herbs and lemon blossom on the finish. Complex and perfectly balanced.
2007 Chablis Grand Cru Reserve De L’Obedience
Specially selected fruit from the Blanchots vineyards, 80% of which is aged and fermented in 3 and 4 year old oak; I can’t get to grips with this. It clearly needs a lot of air and time before drinking (Michel concurs), but even towards the end of the evening, I am finding it mute and lacking in grace in the glass; the delicious aromatics of the straight Blanchots are completely absent and while they will no doubt emerge in some form after more years in bottle, their more youthful incarnation is so delicious, I think I would be happy to stick with that.
2006 Chablis Grand Cru Los Clos
My wine of the evening. It has the cool, river pebble nose that is the essence of great Chablis and while the palate has elements of the fresh lemon and aromatics of the other wines, it is all somehow purer, gentler, cooler with a slatey (as opposed to steely) undercurrent. The finish is similarly gentle but incredibly persistent.
We taste the 2007 as well which is potentially even better but not in a good drinking place right now – still very tight and unyielding with the wood still in evidence.
Finally, we taste a 1997 Les Vaudevey which is still alive but not really doing much. In a bit of a coma if you like and I don’t think it is coming back either.
To the food. Aah, the food! I love the Galvin food at La Chapelle. While Bistrot de Luxe, (their Baker Street restaurant), makes me feel like I need to lie down for a week (big, rib sticking fare), here it is all about a lightness of touch. The manager is an absolute darling about my dietary requirements and so I have raw tuna which is served with carrots very delicately spiced with cumin to start while everyone else tucks into something very creamy.
It is perfectly pitched – nothing dominates anything else and the overall impression is one of clean, fresh and interesting flavours.
Sea trout with a tomato and broad bean risotto next. It feels like an entirely unseasonal dish as the rain pelts relentlessly onto the windows above us, but is completely delicious none the less. Perfectly cooked fish and risotto, the flavours are bright, precise and delicious.
So, yet another London restaurant which I love and which I definitely cannot afford. It's just as well that I do what I do. An evening in a beautiful space, eating truly good food and tasting some very good wine is a kind of miracle in gloomy, recession soaked London.
Hurrah for little miracles - where ever and however they occur.
Galvin La Chapelle
35 Spital Square
London
E1 6DX
http://www.galvinrestaurants.com/section.php/61/1/galvin_la_chapelle
